The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a domestic subspecies of the wolf, a mammal of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term encompasses both feral and pet variants. It is also sometimes used to describe wild canids of other subspecies or species.

Over time, the dog has developed into hundreds of breeds with a great degree of variation.

In domestic dogs, sexual maturity (puberty) begins to happen around age 6 to 12 months for both males and females, although this can be delayed until up to two years old for some large breeds. Adolescence for most domestic dogs is around 12 to 15 months, beyond which they are for the most part more adult than puppy. As with other domesticated species, domestication has selectively bred for higher libido and earlier and more frequent breeding cycles in dogs, than in their wild ancestors.

Females have a twice-yearly fertile period, known as 'seasons', during which her body prepares for pregnancy, and at the peak she will come "into heat", her fertile period, during which time she will be mentally and physically receptive to copulation. A female is able to become pregnant on her first heat; this is not normally considered advisable as she is mentally and physically still young in other ways.

As with most domesticated species, one of the first and strongest effects seen from selective breeding is selection for cooperation with the breeding process as directed by humans. In domestic dogs, one of the behaviours that is noted is the abolition of the pair bond seen in wild canines. The ability of female domestic dog to come into estrus at any time of the year and usually twice a year is also valued. The amount of time between cycles varies greatly among different dogs, but a particular dog's cycle tends to be consistent through her life. This is also called in season or in heat.

Taking after its master, the priest Joei Yoshikuni, the 18-month-old black-and-white Chihuahua named Conan joins in the daily prayers at the Shuri Kannondo temple here. It sits up on its hind legs and duly puts its front paws together in a posture of prayer before the altar.

It took only a few days for the dog to learn the motions, and now Conan is the talk of the town.

“Word has spread, and we are getting a lot more tourists,” Yoshikuni said on Monday.

He said Conan generally goes through its prayer routine at the temple in the capital of Japan’s southern Okinawa prefecture without prompting, before his morning and evening meals. “I think he saw me doing it all the time and got the idea to do it, too.”

The priest is now trying to teach Conan how to meditate as well.

Well, sort of. “Basically, I am just trying to get him to sit still while I meditate,” he explained. “It’s not like we can make him cross his legs.”
— APquote from: www.hindu.com

spring equinox -
the master and his faithful
disciple

Gabi Greve, March 2008

***************************** Worldwide use

Europa and Kenya

I imagine that, in the very North of Europe, where dogs are used to drew sleds, dogs (huskies in particular) must be winter kigo and lead a calm and relaxing life during the other seasons. The St Bernard dogs searching in avalanches likewise would be winter kigo.
Hunting dogs would be for autumn / winter.
Hounds (accompanying people hunting on horseback) are very much winter kigo, at least in Ireland, where horse riding is a national sport.

But the ordinary domestic dog?

In temperate climes, puppies are most likely to be a summer kigo -- simply because breeders arrange for them to be born at the start of the summer to have the best possible chance of growth and survival.
This would not hold in Kenya, where puppies are born all year round and have equal chances, as the weather stays mild.

But ordinary, grown-up domestic dogs?

Why would we associate them more with one season than another? Ours seem to be equally floppy whatever the season, equally eager to go for walks, equally fond of their food and equally fond of the providers of food and walks... And the Kenyan dogs love lying in the dry shade all year round...

This hokku was written in the first month (February) of 1815, when Issa was in his hometown. A small butterfly seems to have been flitting around amusing itself with several animals and things in the house, which is probably still in a festive New Year's mood, and now the butterfly plays with even the hyper-energetic dog, who seems to be so excited, almost frantic, that no one else wants to play with it. Perhaps the butterfly is the only creature in the house that is even quicker than the dog and so can enjoy its antics.

inu no tatari 犬の祟り the curse of the dogAround August in 1729, there lived a man in Ishiwara named 徳山五郎兵衛 Tokuyama Gorobei. One of his friends named 八郎 Hachiro suddenly begun to grow a tail like a dog at his behind. Sometimes he did not eat his breakfast for quite a few days. When they put food in a suribachi すり鉢 mortar, he ate it with delight. Then his face begun to change and he became a dog.This was the curse of all the dogs he had killed in his lifetime. .https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2018/08/sumida-ward.html.